Thread-splicing mechanism for knitting-machines



(No Model.)

G. H. OOBURN & A. W. STONE. THREAD SPLIUING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MAUHINES.

No. 508,205. Patented Nov. 7, 189 3.

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" UNITED? {STATES PATENT OFFICE. v

GEORGE H. OOBURhl AND ALBERT W. STONE, 0 LACONIA, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

THREAD-SPLICING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming-part of Letters Patent No. 508,205, dated November 7, 1893.

' Application fildMtrch 18,1893. SerialNo. 466,573. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE H. CUBURN and ALBERT W. Storm, of Laconia, in the county of Belknap and State of New Hampshire, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Th read-Splicin g Mechanism for Knitting-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to knitting machines which are capable of producing a tubular web, in which a splicing or thickening thread is introduced at intervals extending part way or entirely around the web, in order that when the same is made into articles of apparel, as stockings, leggins, &c., the latter may be strengthened or thickened at desired points, as at the knee, heel, bottom of the foot, &c.

It is the object of the invention to provide improvements in means for introducing a splicing thread which shall be at once simple in construction and operation, and efficient in a maximum degree.

1 To these ends the invention consists of a circular knitting machine comprising in its construction asplicing thread-guide, a spring clamp in proximity to said guide for clampin g and releasing the thread,a cam-faced slide for acting upon the said clamp, a lever for actuating the said slide, and an adjustable stop for acting uponthe said lever.

Reference is to be had to the annexed drawings and to the letters marked thereon forming a part of this specification, the same letters designating the same' parts or features as the case may be, wherever they occur.

Of the drawings-Figure 1 is a side view of a knitting machine head equipped with the improvements, the upper portions of the same being represented as broken away. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a sectional detail view showing the splicing thread as clamped and out of operation. Fig. 4 is a similar detail View showing the splicing thread as released, and as adapted to be fed to the needles.

The knitting machine shown in the drawings is a circular dial machine, designed to produce ribbed work, but the invention is not confined to this kind of machines, since it may be applied to plain-web machines as well;

In the drawings a designates the stationary bed or base. i

b is the revolving cam cylinder, in this case provided with a yoke 0 (shown in the drawings as broken away) with which the cam dial dis connected so as to be moved in unison with the cam cylinder.

e is the needle cylinder equipped with reciprocating needles f, and g is the needle dial carrying the needles h. 'i is the regular knitting thread or yarn which runs through the guide eye to the needles.

All of the parts mentioned may be of the form shown, or of any other suitable construction and arrangement, and as their f unctions are so well known to knitting artisans,

need not'be further described herein.

Z designates the splicing thread or yarn which is led through the guide eyes m n, horizontally arranged, to and through the guideeye is to the needles. The guide eyesmnare preferably arranged in a plane above the in Fig. 3. The clamp 0 is adapted to be raised off the splicing thread so as to release the same. The means for raising the clamp are herein shown to consist of a slide bar q extending across the needle and cam cylinders, and provided at its end adjacent to the clamp 0 with a cam face or incline '1' adapted to act against the upturned end 3 of the clamp, suitable guides being provided to keep the slidebar in place in its longitudinal movements. The slide-bar, at its end opposite to that acting against the clamp is pivoted upon the upper end of a lever 25 fulcrumed at it upon a bracket 11 attached to the cam cylinder. The lever t at its lower end is adapted to engage a fixed inclined stop w and a movable or adjustable inclined stop at, the said stops being so constructed as that one may move thelower end of the lever t outward and the other move it inward, thus moving the slidebar so asto cause its-oamend to raise the clamp o'anl release the splicing thread and allow it to run freely through its guide to the needles.

The operation of the improvement may be describedas follows: Supposing the. knitting.

machine tobein operation, and theregular thread to be fed to the needles until a point is reached at. which it is. desinedztoiintrodnce. the splicing thread, the stop a: will'be adjusted in position to act upon the lower end of the lever and move the same outward,. which will have theeftectof raising the clamp o and releasing the splicing-thread; when: :itwill, be caught by the needles and knit into the-web together with the. regular knitting thread until the lower end of the lever shall have reached. the stop-w, which. stop.- acting" upon the lowenend ofi saiddever wilLmove t'heasame inward drawingthe slide barv q, backward. and releasing, the clamposo thatit will. act upon. the thread between the guidereypesm n; and hold. the same: against. running; in,.when it willbe broken by the needles at apointhbe tween the same and theguidereyela andheld. from being knit intot-he-.webi until the lever 16 shall again. reach thestopw and be-mov-ed. by the latter as before described. In. this way thesplicing: thread will. be. k-nit into: the web-at each successive. run. of knitting for; but a-portionof. the way around" the. fabric untilitshall bezdesined to take the splicing thread out of. action, when. thestopmwillq be removed oradjzusted out of position so that.

it. will not act upon the lever t,and the latter will. be moved'iby the stop to so: as to clamp the splicing thread and hold the latter out of action so that regular knitting can be proceeded with until a point shall have been reached where itis again desired to. introduce the splicing thread;

It will be seen that the improvements are entirely. simple in construction; being composed of few parts, none of which are liable toget out of order.

Having thus explained. the, nature. of the *invention and describeda way of constructingrandi using hhetsame, though without attempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may be made-or all-0t. themodespfi itsuse, itis declared that whatiseclai med. isi- A, knitting, machinecomprising in. its. con- 

